English 364: The Female Gothic

Here are some discussion questions you might want to consider writing about for the opening of We Have Always Lived in the Castle.  Of course, like always, you’re free to write about anything that interested you in the first half of the novel or to respond to another student’s post.

• The opening paragraph in the novel has been discussed by many critics.  A recent article on LitHub even called it the “best opening paragraph” in all of literature.  Provide a close reading of the opening, analyzing very carefully the items Merricat chooses to discuss here.
• Discuss Merricat.  What do you think of her name?  What is she like as a character?  How old is she, for instance, and how old does she seem?  What do you think about her cat, Jonas, and her rituals, such as nailing a book to a tree and burying things?  What about all her rules?  Why is she not “allowed” to do certain things (like entering Uncle Julian’s room, for instance)?  Do you think Merricat is a reliable narrator?
• Discuss Constance.  What do you think of her name?  What is she like as a character?  Why does she never leave the house?  What do you think of her relationship with Merricat and with Uncle Julian?
• Discuss Uncle Julian.  What is he like, what motivates him?  What do you think about the book he is writing?  How does he talk about the tragedy with outsiders such as Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Clarke?  Why does he never interact with Merricat?  Why do you think Jackson included him as a character?
• Discuss the relationship between the villagers and the Blackwood family.  Do the bad feelings begin with the sensational crime, or did they exist earlier?  Do you think their dislike of each other is at all justified?
• Talk about style in the book.  Shirley Jackson is a wonderful writer on the sentence level.  What do you notice about the style of the book that’s interesting or unique?  Do you enjoy the style or not?

While you’re always welcome to write about anything that interested you in today’s reading, here are some questions about “The Yellow Wallpaper” to get you started thinking:

• What’s interesting about the setting of the house that John and the narrator have rented for the summer?  You might look at descriptions of the house and gardens themselves or of the various rooms that the narrator mentions.
• What are readers supposed to think of John?  Is he a loving husband or does he strike you as more sinister?  Both?  Neither?
• How well does the story seem to fit into the gothic genre?
• What do you think the figure in the wallpaper represents?  Why such an emphasis on wallpaper in the first place?
• Who do you think is “Jane” mentioned at the end of the story?

For today’s blog, I’d like you to discuss the end of  Jane Eyre.  Did you find it appropriate and satisfying or were you disappointed in the ending?  Explain why.

Like always, discuss anything you’d like in the chapters from Jane Eyre assigned for today.  Here are some topics that might be of special interest:

• After the proposal, how does Rochester treat Jane and how does Jane react?  What do you think these chapters say about the pull between romance and realism in the novel?
• Discuss Bertha Mason and what she represents in the novel. How are the West Indies, in general, described?
• Do you think Jane makes the right decision to leave Thornfield?
• What do you think of Moor House and St. John (pronounced “Sinjin”), Mary, and Diana Rivers?  How do they contrast/compare to the Reeds?  Why these doubles?
• Talk about the importance of religion in this section of the novel.
• Discuss the recurring imagery of fire and ice in these chapters.

• What do you think of Mr. Rochester?  Do you like him or not?  How does he seem to fit in with Gothic stereotypes such as the good father/prince or the bad father/villain?
• Jane describes in detail the 3 paintings she made that interest Mr. Rochester.  Consider analyzing these paintings–why these particular scenes and images?  Do they have anything to do with important ideas elsewhere in the novel?
• Think about the courtship of Rochester and Jane.  Do you see a pull between Romance and Realism being acted out in this relationship?  How do these scenes uphold or undermine traditional romantic conventions or fairy tale conventions?
•  Choose a particular scene to analyze, such as the first meeting between Jane and Rochester, the burning of the bed, the charade game, the strange gypsy trick, the declaration of love in the garden, etc.

While you’re welcome to discuss anything you’d like in the first 15 chapters of Jane Eyre, here are some prompts to get you started thinking:

• Critical discussion of Jane Eyre often revolves around the 5 main houses Jane lives in over the course of the novel:  Gateshead Hall, Lowood School, Thornfield Manor, Moor House, and Ferndean.  In the reading for today, you’ve already been introduced to three of these houses.  Choose one and discuss it.  What does Jane learn there?  What are her struggles?  How does the house seem to fit with the Gothic format?
• Discuss the events and possible symbolism of the Red Room at Gateshead
• Examine the significance of Helen Burns or Miss Temple in the novel
• How are religious beliefs important in this opening third of the novel?
• Talk about Jane’s initial relationship with Mr. Rochester

Like always, please write about anything that particularly interested you in the reading–the last few chapters of Frankenstein.

Here are some questions you might consider:

1.  How much do you think Victor has really changed by the end of the novel?  Is he still seeking vengeance?  Why does he deliver a stirring speech on p. 159, urging Walton’s men to continue their journey northward when he began telling his story in the first place in order to “dash this cup” (of god-like ambition, scientific overreach, science divorced from morality?) from Walton’s mouth?
2. You should feel free to continue our class discussion of whether you believe Victor was right or wrong to tear up the female creature after he made her.  What view do you think Mary Shelley wants us to take?  Does that coincide with the view you do take?
3. Discuss what happens on Victor’s wedding night.  How is this foreshadowed in the novel?  Why does Victor misunderstand the Creature’s words (“I’ll be with you on your wedding night…”)?  How does this scene fit into the themes of the  larger novel?
4. I know we’ve been somewhat rushed in our discussion of Frankenstein.  Is there something we haven’t yet talked about in class that you’d like to focus on?

Many critics have pointed out that the women characters in Frankenstein seem relatively minor and passive, while the book focuses most fully on the relationship between Victor and his creature.  If this is the case, do you think there are things in the novel that mark it specifically as a woman’s novel or a novel that is interested in women’s concerns?  In other words, how do you see Frankenstein as fitting into the tradition of the Female Gothic?  Or do you think it’s a novel that doesn’t really fit this tradition at all?

Respond to anything that particularly interests you in the first part of Frankenstein.  But here are some prompts to get you started thinking:

• What are your reactions to the author’s introduction to the novel?  Does Shelley seem confident in her own work?  Why or why not?  Is there anything in this introduction that shapes how you read the opening chapters of the novel itself?
• Why do you think Mary Shelley chooses to begin the novel with Walton’s story rather than directly with Victor Frankenstein himself?  What does she gain by using this framing device?
• Discuss the role of Elizabeth Lavenza in the novel as we first meet her.
• On p. 35, Victor describes the creature coming to life:  “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful.  Beautiful!–Great God!”  Why do you think the creature is not beautiful even though his separate parts were selected for their beauty?  Why is this important in the novel?
• Mary Shelley tends to use the term “creature,” but “Frankenstein’s monster” is the popular term we use today What does it mean to be a “monster”?

What did you think about the ending of Northanger Abbey?  Please discuss anything that interested you…but here are some prompts you might want to consider:

• The one character about whom Catherine is inclined to think the worst is General Tilney. Why is this? She is humiliated when Henry realizes how her imagination has run away with her, but how mistaken is she really regarding his general character? Is there a way in which the General really is a Gothic villain despite not murdering his wife?
• Discuss Henry Tilney as a character.  Is he witty and delightful (as many Austen critics argue) or condescending and even misogynistic (as others claim)?  What do you think Henry sees in Catherine, why does he value her? Do you believe he really loves her? (Austen uses some interesting language about their relationship in the last few pages of the novel.)
• What about Eleanor Tilney?  At least one critic has argued that she is the “true Gothic heroine” of the novel.  How do you think this claim might be justified?  Do you agree with it?

Or, you might want to respond to this passage (slightly shortened and reworded) from an analysis of the novel by Iva Jankovic:

We can see the changes that Catherine undergoes in the novel in two ways: 1) as an awakening and transition from the romantic world into reality, and 2) as a molding of a social outsider into the “standards” of society.

The first transition could be said to teach Catherine that reality is not nearly so dramatic and romantic as it’s presented in Gothic novels.  She gains common sense and learns to think rationally (and possibly even cynically?) about the world around her.

The second transition, though, is one Catherine is forced into.  From being a tomboy in her childhood, she is taken to Bath, where she must learn what it means to be an 18th century woman: to dress appropriately, to have good manners, to talk about clothes and hair and boys. She learns she must conform to other’s expectations if she is to get anywhere in life

So, the question is:  Does Catherine start out as a zombie? Or does she become one?